Hinkley Point Nuclear Plant in Doubt After Shock Government Intervention

Who saw this coming? After Hinkley Point C gained final approval from champagne-popping EDF board members last night -- who were revving up their pen-gines ahead of a planned contract signing today -- nobody expected Theresa May and co to swoop in like harpies and crash the party.

The government has stepped in at the last minute to keep the nuclear controversy bubbling on, choosing to push back a final decision on Hinkley Point to early autumn.

Business secretary Greg Clark says the government with “consider carefully” before supporting it, though Tom Greatrex, the chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, has called for a decision to be made sharpish.

"We need to get on and do this and that's why I'm hoping the government make their decision very soon because if it goes on for a lengthy period of time we are going to run the risk of having real problems in terms of our energy supplies," he said. "Then what happens is that we end up paying a lot more and we end up paying for much more dirty power which we can't afford to do if we are to meet our climate commitments."

The £18 billion plant has more than its fair share of critics, who aren’t comfortable with the fact that the project is being funded by the French and Chinese and argue that we should be focusing on truly clean forms of energy rather than nuclear.

Concerns about EDF’s financial clout -- it’s had to raise funds from its owners -- aren’t helping the matter.